


Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)

by hybryd0



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, No actual sex, sex or death curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6773023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybryd0/pseuds/hybryd0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is cursed and Louis is the only one who can save him.  If he'll let him that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinywhimsy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinywhimsy/gifts).



> Thank you to Jarka for the betaing everything up to the ending. Set in the same verse as this: http://multishippinfool.tumblr.com/post/134766079277/lilo-42-other-world-au-like-in-a-fantasy

Louis sank into a seat in a dark corner of the tavern with a bone weary sigh. It had taken him all day and most of the night to clear out the gremlin infestation in the town. Once the little hellraisers had figured out that he was on to them, it had become increasingly difficult and dangerous. He was just grateful that the angry sky above hadn’t actually let loose as he’d feared and eventually he’d managed to slay the ringleader and the rest had scattered into the woods. He’d left a couple of nasty surprises if the stragglers decided to come back.

He almost jumped out of his skin as a pint of ale and a plate stacked with food appeared in front of him. He looked up to see Corwin, the owner of the tavern, standing at the side of the table. The man still didn’t look all that friendly towards Louis, but there was something that could have been gratitude in his eyes.

“Figured a hero deserves a reward,” Corwin said gruffly. “Don’t take it as an invitation to stick around though, yeah?”

“Don’t worry, me and my scary magic will be out of here in the morning,” Louis said. He didn’t thank Corwin for the meal; didn’t think the man would welcome it.

Corwin grunted and then turned away. Louis rolled his eyes before turning his attention to the free meal. It was better than he was going to get on his trip back to the capitol, a three day trip if he didn’t give his mount a “boost”. He took of his belt with the many pouches lining it and placed it on the table so he could be more comfortable and then dug in.

He’d just drained the last of his pint and motioned for another when he heard a familiar melody from one of his pouches. He almost considered ignoring it (it wouldn’t be the first time), but the urge to share his most recent victory was too great and he gathered up the remainder of his meal and his belt and headed up to the room he’d rented for the night. Once he was settled in his room and the door was locked (both traditionally and with a little magic), Louis opened the pouch and let a palm sized crystal ball fall out.

It only took one good growing spell for the crystal ball to become almost as big as he head. It was then that the image within was clear enough for him to see who was contacting him. He grinned in greeting, but it dimmed slightly when the other young man didn’t return it.

“Why the long face, Nialler?” Louis asked, concern making the food in his stomach feel like lead. Niall was usually the most happy go lucky of their group (when they used to be a group).

“We’ve run into a bit of trouble, Lou,” Niall said. “We’re not sure what exactly it is, but our best bet is a curse.”

“We need you,” Harry said from somewhere out of sight.

“You need a warlock and I’m the only one you’ve got on call,” Louis said, crossing his arms. “Does Liam know you’re contacting me?”

“Who says we’re working with Liam?” Niall asked.

Louis snorted. “I can see his cloak hanging on the hook behind you.”

“Listen, Liam--.”

“Is that Louis? I told you not to contact him, we can figure this out ourselves.”

Speaking of the devil, Louis thought wryly. He caught a brief look at Liam’s face before there was a flurry of motion and shouting. Under the anger Liam looked pale and drawn.

Niall reappeared in the crystal ball a second later. “Sorry, had to put grumpy pants back to bed.”

“Let me guess, he’s the cursed one?”

“Like I was about to say before, I don’t know what happened between you, but you need to set it aside. His condition has been rapidly deteriorating and Harry and I aren’t warlocks,” Niall said with the kind of determination of someone who had practiced that speech.

“And here I just wanted to gloat about the nest of gremlins I wiped out,” Louis grumbled.

“We’re all very proud of you, Lou,” Niall said in a way that would have sounded patronizing coming from anyone else.

Louis sighed and started to dig through his bag. “Is your location gem on?”

“Rarely turn it off.”

Louis unrolled his map of the realm and his eyes were immediately drawn to the glowing green beacon that was Niall’s location gem. Harry’s yellow one was also on and in the same location. Louis wasn’t surprised that Liam’s blue beacon wasn’t present.

“You’re only a day’s ride,” Louis said.

“Might not have that much time,” Niall said.

Louis looked up in alarm. “Just how bad is he?”

“Bad.”

“And getting worse,” Harry said as he re-entered the room. “If you’ve got any waypoint tokens you might need to cash them in.”

Louis sighed and glanced longingly at the nice, warm bed he’d been planning on sleeping in. Truth be told, gremlins were nasty little buggers and taking them on had actually taken a lot of out him physically, mentally, and magically. The thought of taking a trip through a waypoint just sounded even more draining.

“Fine, but I’m finishing my dinner first.”

XxXxX

The guards at the waypoint checked Louis’s papers while dubiously eyeing Bark. Louis couldn’t blame them too much; it wasn’t every day that a giant, pure black winged wolf came around. He loved to tell the tale of how he’d turned his pretty mundane puppy into something worthy of riding into battle, when he had the time that was.

“Forgive me sir, but why don’t you simply fly to your destination?” One of the guards, the older of the two, asked.

“Bark is afraid of heights,” Louis answered, half distracted as he fished out the waypoint tokens he would need.

“But it’s got wings,” the other guard said.

Louis shot him a withering look. “Thank you for stating the obvious. If you must know, he wasn’t born with them and so he’s scared of flying. Now, my papers, please.”

The older guard handed his papers back to him and Louis stowed them away before leading Bark into the ring of the waypoint. Bark whined softly and Louis gave him a reassuring pat before he stepped over to the control pedestal. He put in the necessary tokens to bring it to life, then picked the waypoint he wanted from the map. He took one moment to mourn the tokens he’d been saving for a trip home then stepped back beside Bark as the ring started to glow blue as the intricate spells powering it activated.

Louis had heard that traveling by waypoint felt different to everyone. For him it was almost unsettling the way he could feel his magic reacting to that of the powerful spells woven deep into the very fabric of the realm. He could feel a pull in his magical core, like a thousand tiny hooks taking hold and dragging him into the distance between one point and another. It was as if the waypoint took a deep breath and sucked him, and Bark, into it; and it all happened within a matter of moments.

If leaving one waypoint was like a deep breath in, then arriving was very much like letting that breath out. The feeling of suddenly coming into being thousands of miles from the start point was one Louis was sure he’d never get used to no matter how many times he traveled that way. It always left him feeling a little shaky and a little drained as if the spells of the waypoint drained some of his magic.

He submitted himself to the same process with the guards at the receiving waypoint and then quickly headed for the inn where Niall and Harry’s beacons were shining from within. He left Bark with a nervous stablehand, tipping him a little extra, and headed inside.

“Louis!”

He couldn’t help but smile at Niall’s exuberance and welcomed the hug that his friend pulled him into. Niall’s warmth sank into Louis’s cold, weary body and he couldn’t help but slump against him just a little. If he’d had his way he would have have just dragged Niall up to the room and had a long cuddle like the used to back at the dorms in school after rough lessons, but there were much more pressing matters to attend to first. 

“Good to see you, lad,” Louis said as he pulled back.

“Just wish it was under better circumstances,” Niall said, some of the happiness draining from his face. “Listen, no matter what he says, he needs you. You’re the only one that can help him.”

Louis eyed his friend suspiciously. “You sound like you know what’s wrong with him.”

“Me? Nooo, I’m just a shapeshifter. What do I know about curses and the like?” Niall said, his innocent face not very convincing at all. Especially since he’d been in the same hexes and curses class.

“What is it, he needs a kiss from his worst enemy or he’ll turn into a frog?” Louis grumbled.

Niall rolled his eyes skyward like he was begging the gods above for patience. “Wouldn’t be calling for you if that was the cure, mate.”

“So you do know what it is.”

“Louis, if you don’t get up there and fix this, I’ll show you some of my not very nice shifts,” Niall said cheerfully, the only hint of a threat was in the darkening of his eyes. Louis never liked the darker shades of blue, especially the few times they’d been aimed at him.

He also knew that Niall wasn’t the type of guy to throw idle threats around, which meant he was honestly really worried about Liam. He gave Niall a pat on the shoulder and headed up the stairs. There were a number of rooms, but Louis didn’t need to be told which one to go to, he could sense the magic of the rune Liam had used for protection. There was another one that he could tell that Harry had put up, his faerie magic feeling different than the rest.

He didn’t bother knocking; one because he knew it would annoy Liam to no end, and two because he wasn’t sure Liam would even actually let him in. Instead he reached through with his magic and pulled the magic of the rune apart. He was a little unsettled by how easily he’d done that and resolved to teach Liam stronger protection runes.

Opening the door, Louis found his target sitting at the small table in the center of the room. He had parchment spread out across it and looked for all the world like he was just working on another quest, just another night as usual. He didn’t even look up at Louis when he approached.

Now that he was close Louis could practically smell the stench of the curse not to mention see the tendrils of the dark, ugly magic that accompanied it. He frowned as he observed the curse, noticing the way it not only swirled around Liam, but dipped into him as well. Some curses only need a counter-curse, some a potion or magical item, and then there were the ones that required a very specific action to reverse them. The curse affecting Liam was definitely the latter.

“You’re wasting your time, Louis,” Liam said, shuffling some parchment around.

Louis crossed his arms. “You know what the counter-curse is, don’t you?”

“I told them not to call you.”

Louis observed the curse again and the effect it was having on Liam. It was leaching away at his life source and it wasn’t doing it all that slowly. No wonder Harry had told him to use the waypoint, the faerie would have been able to see the exact same thing.

“You’re dying,” Louis said, the words kicking his heartbeat up a couple of notches. “Liam, what the fuck? Do you hate me so much that you’d rather die than accept my help?”

Liam laughed, but there wasn’t any humor to it. It was more bitter and sad. “Gods above, it’d be so much easier if I did hate you.”

“I don’t understand, why won’t you just tell me how to save your life?” Louis asked, some of the frustration coloring his tone.

“Because it’s not something I can ask of you and it doesn’t matter because I know you hate me anyway,” Liam said. He suddenly sounded and looked as drained as he must have felt.

“I don’t hate you,” Louis found himself saying before he could really think about it. “I’m here to save you, aren’t I? Just tell me what I need to do.”

“Fine,” Liam said. “It’s a sex or death curse, okay?”

Louis frowned. If it was that simple Liam would have already broken the curse, but he played along anyway. “So then, grab one of the pretty barmaids from downstairs and have at it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Of course it’s not, the type of curse that’s got it’s claws in you rarely are,” Louis replied. “So c’mon then, what’s the catch?”

Liam flushed then, the paleness of his skin making it stand out even more than usual. He looked like he’d rather jump out of the window than say anything further. He avoided eye contact as he mumbled his answer.

“It has to be with the first person I ever wanted to have sex with.”

Louis blinked. It wasn’t hard to put everything together and figure it all out. He was obviously the first person Liam had wanted to have sex with and therefore the only person that could save him. What blew his mind was that he hadn’t known then, because Liam was usually pretty rubbish about keeping things secret especially his feelings. Apparently he had though.

“Is that all there is to it?” Louis asked once he found his voice again.

“Isn’t that enough?” Liam asked in return, looking mildly horrified. “Now that you know will you leave me alone?”

“I’m not going to let you die.”

“We’re not having sex because of some curse,” Liam said firmly.

Louis frowned again. “Now you’d rather die than have sex with me?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then why are you making this so difficult? It’s not like it would be a hardship for me,” Louis said, eyeing Liam from head to foot. There was no denying how fit the warrior was, in part to all of his training and the toned, muscular body that was the result. Louis had watched him grow from a cute kid into a gorgeous man and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what it would be like for Liam to use those muscles on him.

Liam returned his frown even as he flushed at the once over. “I don’t want to have sex with you because we have to, what’s so hard to understand about that?”

“Liam, oh my gods above, are you serious?” Louis wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or beat his head against the wall. “What do you want me to say here? That I’ve wanted you to pin me down and have your way with me since survival training? That I’ve jerked off to thinking about you on your knees for me? Or me on my knees for you?”

“Survival training was eight years ago,” Liam said faintly like that was the only thing he’d heard, but Louis knew better.

“Can I magic our clothes off now?”

“No.”

Louis groaned and looked to the gods above for patience. “Liam--.”

“If we’re going to do this then I want to do this right,” Liam said. “There’s already enough magic involved in this, don’t you think?”

Louis didn’t think so. He would have happily magicked their clothes off and lubed himself, or Liam, up. However, since Liam was the one dying, Louis decided to let him call the shots. This time.

XxXxX

Louis wasn’t generally the stay in bed all day kind of person. Sleep all day, yes, but once he was awake, really awake, he tended to have too much energy for laying around. There were always things to do even if it wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing.

Waking up in Liam’s arms was enough to change his mind. He felt warm and safe, not that he ever really felt unsafe with the amount of protective wards and spells he could put up, but there was something different about it with Liam. It was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but didn’t really feel the need to anyway. He felt good; there wasn’t any reason to dissect that.

What he did need to dissect was what exactly last night had meant to him. Somewhere between Liam drawing his first orgasm out of him slowly and finally getting his mouth on Liam, Louis realized he was an idiot for thinking his feelings for Liam could ever actually go away. He’d been in too deep the since the first time they won a training game together and Liam had turned to him with that bright, crinkly eyed smile and Louis’s heart had suddenly felt three times too big for his body.

“Think too much,” Liam mumbled sleepily, lips brushing softly over the back of Louis’s neck.

Louis twisted around in Liam’s arms so that they were face to face. “I know you warriors are allergic to too much thinking, but--ow!”

“S’not nice,” Liam grumbled, not bothering to sooth the patch of skin he’d pinched. “I gave you orgasms, you should be nice to me.”

“That you did,” Louis agreed. He reached up to thumb softly at the birthmark on Liam’s throat and the teeth marks he’d left.

Liam’s eyes opened to slits and Louis felt his heart do that growing thing again. He’d only seen cold and anger in them for so long that he forgot just how warm they could be, or how good it felt to have that directed at him.

“Niall and Harry are going to be the biggest brats about this,” Liam said, a smile tugging at his lips.

“First one that says I told you so gets turned into a newt,” Louis said cheerfully.

Liam snorted, but the humor drained away to something a little more serious. He studied Louis silently with a thoughtful expression on his face and Louis let him. It was obviously time for the morning after talk and as much as Louis didn’t really want to talk about it, not talking seemed to be their biggest problem. He wasn’t going to let that continue. Not this time.

“Last night was about more than sex to me,” Liam finally said, apparently having reached the same conclusion as Louis.

Louis swallowed hard and thumbed over Liam’s birthmark again. “Me too.”

“But we’ve got a lot of things work through. We can’t think one night of amazing sex is a fix-it for our problems,” Liam went on. 

“Do you want to fix it?” 

“Never wanted it broken,” Liam said softly.

“Me either.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“When has anything with us ever been easy?” Louis asked. “Doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying, right?”

Liam’s face cracked into a smile, the warmth in his eyes nearly enough to cast away the dark clouds outside. “Right.”

Louis smiled back. Whatever came next at least they were finally on the same page and that was more than they could say for as long as they’d known each other when it came to matters of the heart.

And that was about as much sentimentality Louis could handle for one day.

“Now, do you think we have enough time for me to take care of this,” he wrapped his hand around Liam’s morning wood, thumbing the tip, “before they expect us for breakfast?”

“Don’t care,” Liam said with a sharp intake of air. “They can wait.”

Louis grinned and slid under the sheets. Yeah, they could.


End file.
